A NJ Transit train pulls into Penn Station in Newark in July 2012. An advocacy group wants the agency to provide direct rail service to New York Penn Station along the Raritan Valley Line.Frank H. Conlon/For The Star-Ledger

For members of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, the time has come to provide direct service to New York City for NJ Transit commuters in parts of Union, Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon counties.

With the support of commuters, elected officials, realtors and other groups, the coalition is looking to organize an advocacy effort aimed at driving NJ Transit to bring one-seat service to the Raritan Valley Line. From High Bridge to Union Township, riders on that line now must transfer at Newark Penn Station to go into Manhattan.

Beyond making it easier for commuters, supporters argue direct rail service could boost property values and support economic development. Founded in 1998, the coalition is an advocacy organization made up of elected officials and other representatives.

"We’re going to advocate for everything we can get," said Martin E. Robins, a coalition member and former deputy executive director of NJ Transit. "We see this as the opportunity that we’ve been striving for."

Since the Raritan Valley Line is non-electrified, those commuters currently travel on diesel-powered trains to Newark Penn Station, where they transfer to electric-powered trains to go to New York. But the dual-powered locomotives would allow for one continuous trip.

NJ Transit has been using the dual-powered locomotives for less than a year and currently operates them along rail lines entering and exiting Hoboken, agency spokesman John Durso Jr. said.

Any potential discussions about expanding their use along other portions of NJ Transit’s rail system would not happen until those trains have been in service for at least a full year, which will be in the late spring, Durso said.

Passengers board a NJ Transit train to Plainfield in Newark Penn Station in this 2010 file photo.Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger

There are no immediate plans to run dual-powered locomotives on the Raritan Valley Line for one-seat service, but that option has not been ruled out for the future, Durso said. Still, agency officials also have to contend with the limited train capacity at New York Penn Station, Durso said.

"That’s the chief factor that’s limiting any expansion of service into and out of New York," he said.

Advocates of bringing one-seat service to the Raritan Valley Line during rush hour have acknowledged that such a move could mean reducing service on another NJ Transit line. The agency already provides one-seat service on certain other lines, including the North Jersey Coast Line and Morris & Essex Lines.

But since other lines are already benefiting from direct rail service, Scotch Plains resident Michael Weinstock has a question on behalf of Raritan Valley commuters: "When’s our turn?"

"Why shouldn’t every line in New Jersey have a one-seat access ride into New York?" asked Weinstock, whose wife commutes to New York City five days a week. "Now you have the dual locomotives, so why shouldn’t we be in the front of the line?"